The Educator Magazine U.K. Sept-Dec 2022 - Magazine - Page 52
Plastic Free Schools
A system shaking, change making,
pupil-led education programme
What is Plastic Free Schools?
Why is it important?
Plastic Free Schools is a programme
from the charity, Surfers Against
Sewage. It equips young activists with
the tools to create positive, lasting
environmental change. It teaches pupils
that they should never under estimate
the power of their voice. It helps the
kids and teachers to outsmart the
polluters and replace their pointless
plastics with something better.
Our aim is to free where we live from
single-use plastic. The avoidable stuff
that’s everywhere. Plastic bottles,
sachets, takeaway containers, excessive
food packaging. They’re in our schools,
our playgrounds, our parks and our
streets and they’re having a huge
impact on our environment. But we
have the power to change this, whoever
we are, wherever we live and wherever
we go to school.
Plastic Free Schools empowers pupils to
make real changes in their school and
community. They’ll investigate
single-use plastics, find alternatives for
the school to use and challenge
polluters to change their ways.
We want to help schools say a big fat
“NO” to single-use plastics. We want
schools where, when it comes to
helping the environment, the children
will do anything but sit down and be
quiet
With millions of young activists on
board, we can end plastic pollution on
our beaches by 2030.
How do I get involved?
How does it work?
The programme is completely free and
available to all UK based teachers in
nursery, primary and secondary
education.
Becoming a Plastic Free School takes
commitment, creativity, and a serious
amount of pupil power. Here’s how it
works:
1. The school signs up to the
programme on our website:
plasticfreeschools.org.uk
2. We send them a free Plastic Free
Schools welcome pack with objective
cards, action plans, teachers notes and
sacks and gloves for a school clean up.
3. They complete the five objectives –
from making plans, to making
changes, to making a noise the
polluters can’t ignore.
4. They send us updates and photos of
their progress.
5. We make them an official Plastic
Free School and send out a plaque to
be displayed proudly in the school.
We need your help to make plastic
the talk of the playground.
Designed to hit key curriculum and
other targets, this programme will
support you to empower your pupils
to make positive changes for the
environment and your school.
“The Plastic Free Schools programme
has helped to raise awareness for the
environment across the school in both
children and adults. Through working
towards the Plastic Free Status, the
children have written letters to major
polluting companies, lobbied our local
MPs and have even visited the Houses
of Parliament to deliver letters to the
government asking for action on plastic
pollution.” - Trinity St Peter’s C.E. Primary
School
Positive Pupil Power
Pupils up and down the country are
standing tall, making themselves heard,
and educating the grown-ups in their
communities.
Here are a couple of our favourite
stories of pupil power:
Parading against polluting
While working towards becoming
a Plastic Free School, pupils at Clyst
St Marys put on a big, creative
protest against single-use plastics. They
produced a series of vibrant seascapes
made from plastics they collected
themselves, and peacefully paraded
them around their school grounds
Sending the Environment
Secretary to school
Secondary pupils from Redruth School
in Cornwall, also on its way to becoming
a Plastic Free School, sent letters to their
MP and Environment Secretary George
Eustice. They shared their concerns
and urged him to take action. He’s now
planning to visit the school and meet
with the Eco Committee to discuss the
issues and how they can work together.
Who is Surfers Against
Sewage?
We’re a charity of water lovers
campaigning to protect the ocean
and all it makes possible, by taking
action on the ground that triggers
change from the top. For people to
thrive and live life to the fullest, the
ocean must thrive too. And so we need
to confront all that threatens it. Plastic.
Sewage. Industrial exploitation. Climate
change. In building and connecting
communities of Ocean Activists
motivated to make a difference, we
gather the evidence and give voice to
the issues that hold leaders to account.
Today, we’re more than surfers. It’s more
than sewage. We’re here because of the
ocean. Let’s fight for it.
Together let’s create
Plastic Free Schools